GameThronesS5Game of Thrones: The Complete Fifth Season (HBO, Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD) of HBO’s sprawling fantasy epic, adapted from the novel cycle by George R.R. Martin (who is a writer and producer on the show), features an ever-more complex web of alliances, betrayals, conspiracies, loyalties, and odysseys. Tyrion (Emmy award-winning actor Peter Dinklage) escapes to find barbarian queen and Mother of Dragons Daenerys (Emilia Clarke), whose own rule is threatened by an underground rebellion, Stannis (Stephane Dillane) sacrifices his own family in his march to take the Iron Throne from the Lannister dynasty, and the surviving members of the Stark family struggle to survive the power shifts and political winds. Meanwhile, Cerci (Lena Headey) battles both the new queen (Natalie Dormer) and a priest (Jonathan Pryce) she tries to manipulate for her own purposes, which comes at a great cost. This season was also controversial for the sexual assault of two major female characters and the humiliation of Cerci (only the latter taken directly from the books).

Though this is a fantasy with giant dragons and zombie warriors, it plays like a medieval historical drama embroiled in a civil war and the story is spread all over the fictional globe of this world (which is represented by shooting locations in Ireland, Iceland, Morocco, Malta, and Croatia). It’s a visually impressive series with the scale and sweep of a feature film and it is arguably the most narratively complicated show on TV, which is part of its appeal: viewers are invested in the continuing stories and the audience has grown over the years, making this HBO’s most popular series.

10 episodes on Blu-ray and DVD, with commentary on most episodes, featurettes, and other supplements.

GameThronesS3SteelAlso new are the Game of Thrones: The Complete Third Season – Limited Edition Steelbook (HBO, Blu-ray) and Game of Thrones: The Complete Fourth Season – Limited Edition Steelbook (HBO, Blu-ray), a gift-set upgrade of these earlier seasons. No reason to recap each season but just a reminder, season three invites you to a little social event called The Red Wedding and season four assassinates the brutal King Joffrey, with reverberations throughout the empire.

Each season is ten episodes on five discs. The video master appears to be the same but new to disc is a theater-quality Dolby Amos soundtrack for high-end systems. The supplements are the same: twelve commentary tracks on the third season, eleven on the fourth season, featuring a mix of participants including the producers, writers, directors, and actors (most of the stars and major creative collaborators at point or another), numerous production and interview featurettes, interactive guide modes with offer background material and “In-Episode Guides,” a viewing mode with pop-up factoids and guides running through the episodes. These are well-produced extras and worth the visit for fans of the show. Each set also includes an Ultraviolet Digital HD copy of the season.

GameThronesS4SteelThe steelbook case is small and sturdy—it’ll fit neatly on the shelf with your other volumes—and the discs are stacked on short spindles inside: three discs on one side, two on the other. I’m not fond of spindles and it can scratch the disc it any grit gets caught between them, which can be an issue in a family household, but if you’re a careful collector it should be fine. And each features a sigil magnet with a crest: The Twins (Third Season) and The Wall (Fourth Season).